# When you smoke meat what wood do you use



## mturnmm (May 18, 2011)

We used to use mesquite and oak. On accident we found some pecan and that is our go to wood of choice for all kinds of meat. What do you use??


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## Hannibal (Apr 22, 2011)

It really depends on what meat I'm smoking. I've used mesquite, oak, pecan, apple, hickory etc. etc

For beef it's mainly mesquite
For poultry it's either pecan or apple
Pork I like to mix both mesquite and hickory.


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## Torqued (May 18, 2011)

Hannibal said:


> It really depends on what meat I'm smoking. I've used mesquite, oak, pecan, apple, hickory etc. etc
> 
> For beef it's mainly mesquite
> For poultry it's either pecan or apple
> Pork I like to mix both mesquite and hickory.


Pretty much what he said. Type of wood depends on the meat.


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## JustOneMoreStick (Sep 21, 2009)

Hannibal said:


> For beef it's mainly mesquite
> For poultry it's either pecan or apple


:tpd::tpd::tpd::tpd::tpd::tpd::tpd::tpd::tpd:


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## DSturg369 (Apr 6, 2008)

Pecan wood for me. Never over-powering an always tasted great.


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## beercritic (Feb 13, 2011)

Cherry and apple are really great. Stay away from any conifer, tho.


joe


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## titlowda (Jan 23, 2011)

If you can get a hold of pear that is good wood to use as well.


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## usrower321 (Mar 27, 2011)

I work at a BBQ joint and they use a combination of hickory and cherry. Makes for some damn good BBQ... tennessee dry rub style.


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## EricF (May 25, 2010)

I typically use a combo of Apple, Cherry & hickory when I smoke.


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## titlowda (Jan 23, 2011)

I had some cherry but found it was extremely strong. But then again I am talking about 180 degrees constant so I am smoking for hours on end.


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## thebayratt (Jun 4, 2009)

EricF said:


> I typically use a combo of Apple, Cherry & hickory when I smoke.


I am about the same. Its kind of tough to get apple here at times. But Cherry, Hickory and mesquite is a staple in the smoker.

90% of the time i use hickory and mequite with a little cherry.


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## titlowda (Jan 23, 2011)

Anyone here try sugar maple? Had a pork roast smoked with it a few weeks ago and it ended up with me volunteering to take my chainsaws to VA to help drop one for my father in law.


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## 68 Lotus (Jan 13, 2011)

All the Little Chief Woods....

Smokehouse Products, Inc. - Wood

Plus some other Brands!.. of Chunks! :ss


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## beercritic (Feb 13, 2011)

usrower321 said:


> I work at a BBQ joint and they use a combination of hickory and cherry. Makes for some damn good BBQ... tennessee dry rub style.


Hickory and cherry is a great mix.

Gee, rub recipes would be handy to have (hint, hint).

Can you identify the spice(s) that would cause this property:
There was a wonderful BBQ joint in Dayton, their best loved sauce started out very yummy, with very little sweetness; As you ate, the "burn" level slowly increased to the point of tears. Best sauce I've ever had & I can't figure how to get that "heat" property.

Hint for others: If you use generic BBQ sauce as a base for your own seasonings, Kroger brand has 2 "flavors" that omit high fructose corn syrup (the silent killer that tastes awful), favoring sugar. Now, last year was the last time I checked, but that had been the case for at least the previous 5 years. One might be "Thick and Zesty."

joe


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## usrower321 (Mar 27, 2011)

beercritic said:


> Hickory and cherry is a great mix.
> 
> Gee, rub recipes would be handy to have (hint, hint).
> 
> ...


Haha I would love to share, but a family friend is the owner and I don't want to give away his recipe. However, I'm going home later this week and wouldn't mind doing a trade or just throwing a jar of rub your way if you'd like to try it. He also has 3 of his own sauces, sweet, vinegar base, and hot. PM me if you're interested so our posts don't get deleted

I'm thinking about the sauce you described...it may be a different base than plain bbq sauce which can help cut the overt sweetness and then white pepper would give the hot.

Try ketchup with some brown sugar as a base and go from there if you like experimenting. (that may have been base for the Dayton sauce)


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## beercritic (Feb 13, 2011)

The rub offer sounds great. As well as the "hot" (as long as it doesn't stub your tongue). Don't have many good gars for swapping, but I do source and sell many books. If you have a favorite topic, I'll see what I can come up with. If you are a fan of single-malt Scotch, or Whisky in general, I've got some really great dupes of a couple titles. I never sell my duplicate libation books, saving them to gift to folks. 

I've never had much luck using catsup as a base. Just has the "wrong" type of sweetness to me, and it's way heavy on the salt. I generally add horseradish, garlic and black pepper, very fine chopped white onion, dash of Wochester. Never tried the white pepper, generally disliking it, but shall snag some for experiments. I just don't think it's assertive enough to create that particular sensation, but I've never consumed a bunch at one sitting. What would be a good estimate for a quart sized batch? And I suppose I could try catsup with the white pepper. Might be the key. 


Cheers!

joe


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## gator_79 (Sep 16, 2009)

Beef- Mesquite
Pork/Poultry- Hickory/Apple mix
Salmon/Fish- Alder/Apple mix


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## Reino (Sep 13, 2010)

pecan and oak for brisket.
pecan for most everything else.


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## Jenady (Nov 23, 2009)

I use

mesquite and oak for beef,
alder for seafood,
pecan, apple, and hickory for pork,
pecan or cherry for chicken


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## Reino (Sep 13, 2010)

I have heard a lot of good stuff about cherry. 
I would like to try it but no cherry trees here.
Guess I could order some.


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

This thread is making me so hungry to BBQ!


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## Hannibal (Apr 22, 2011)

Cigary said:


> This thread is making me so hungry to BBQ!


Your telling me. The last time tri-tip was on sale I picked up 4 of them and they are patiently waiting in the freezer.

I'm thinking of defrosting a couple and getting them prepped for the weekend....


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## Jenady (Nov 23, 2009)

Hannibal said:


> Your telling me. The last time tri-tip was on sale I picked up 4 of them and they are patiently waiting in the freezer.
> 
> I'm thinking of defrosting a couple and getting them prepped for the weekend....


Jeff,

I hear about tri-tip on the forum but I do not recall ever seeing it in our stores. I assume it is beef? I will have to ask our butcher about it.

How do you cook it?


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